CALIFORNIA AIR RESOURCES BOARD PRIVACY POLICY

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Statement of Purpose

CARB maintains arb.ca.gov and all related sub-websites (collectively “CARBIS”) to enhance public access to information and services provided by CARB. CARB's goals include:

  • Timely and convenient access to CARB publications and information about CARB programs.
  • Facilitate the distribution of information to the public regarding permit assistance, business assistance and other activities of CARB.
  • Actively encourage and promote the free exchange of information, ideas and opinions.
  • Through the use of external links, provide CARBIS site users with convenient access to other resources available on the Internet.
  • Provide an archive of past program activities for the use of the public and CARB staff.

By continuing to use CARBIS, you agree to and accept all of the CARBIS policies and terms on this webpage below.  Otherwise, please log off of CARBIS now.

Privacy

“Personal information”, also known as personal identifying information (PII), is defined as “any information that is maintained by an agency that identifies or describes an individual, including, but not limited to, the individual’s name, social security number, physical description, home address, home telephone number, education, financial matters, and medical or employment history. It includes statements made by, or attributed to, the individual.” (Civ. Code, § 1798.3, subd. (a).) “The term ‘individual’ means a natural person. (Ibid., subd. (d).)  

“Electronically collected personal information” (ECPI) means “any information that is maintained by an agency that identifies or describes an individual user, including, but not limited to, the user’s name, social security number, physical description, home address, home telephone number, education, financial matters, medical or employment history, password, electronic mail address, and information that reveals any network location or identity, but excludes any information manually submitted to a state agency by a user, whether electronically or in written form, and information on or relating to individuals who are users serving in a business capacity, including, but not limited to, business owners, officers, or principals of that business.” (Gov. Code, § 11015.5, subd. (d)(1).) “User” means “an individual who communicates with a state agency or with an agency employee or official electronically.” (Gov. Code, § 11015.5, subd. (d)(2).)

CARB respects your right to privacy. Government Code section 11019.9 provides that all departments and agencies of the State of California shall enact and maintain a permanent privacy policy, in adherence with the Information Practices Act of 1977 (Civil Code section 1798 et seq.), that includes, but is not necessarily limited to, the following principles to protect your right to privacy when viewing our pages on our Internet site:

  • PII may only be obtained through lawful means. 
  • The purposes for which PII are collected will be specified at or prior to the time of collection, and any subsequent use of the data will be limited to and consistent with the fulfillment of those purposes previously specified. 
  • PII may not be disclosed, made available, or otherwise used for a purpose other than those specified, except with the consent of the subject of the data, or as required by law or regulation. 
  • PII collected will be relevant to the purpose for which it is needed. 
  • The general means by which PII is protected against loss, unauthorized access, use, modification, or disclosure shall be posted, unless the disclosure of those general means would compromise legitimate agency objectives or law enforcement purposes. (See heading “Protection of Personal Information” below)
  • Individuals have the right to access PII collected from them and maintained by CARB, and to request correction of any inaccuracies in such records.
     

We collect some PII directly from individuals who volunteer to use some of our services, including this website. Collection of this information is required to deliver the specific services, but use of these services is voluntary.

If you do nothing during your visit to this website but only browse and download information, we also automatically collect and store the following ECPI information about your visit:

  1. The Internet Protocol Address and domain name used, but not your e-mail address. The Internet Protocol Address is a numerical identifier assigned either by your Internet service provider or directly to by your computer. We use the Internet Protocol Address to direct Internet traffic to you and generate statistics used in the management of this site; 
  2. The type of browser and operating system you used; 
  3. The date and time you visited the site; and/or,
  4. The web pages or services you accessed at the site. 
     

CARB does not place "cookies" on the computers of visitors to our site, except session cookies for our local air district application. However, to ensure that our site is accessible to as many people as possible, we do monitor the aggregate number of visitors to the different pages on our site and also keep track of the various types of web browsers used by our users. The cookies created on your computer by using the website do not contain PII and do not compromise your privacy or security. The main purpose of a cookie is to identify and customize web pages for you. The cookies will remain on your computer unless you delete them. You can manage your cookies by accessing your browser’s preferences menu to prevent them from being placed on your computer or to delete them from your computer. Additionally, information on how to delete cookies from your computer may be found at http://www.aboutcookies.org. You should, however, be aware that some websites may not work properly if you block cookie placement.

Public Disclosure

In the State of California, laws exist to ensure that government is open and that the public has a right to access appropriate records and information possessed by state government. At the same time, there are exceptions to the public's right to access public records. These exceptions serve various needs including maintaining the privacy of individuals. Both state and federal laws provide exceptions to public access of government records.

All PII submitted by a user to this site becomes public record that may be subject to inspection and copying by the public, unless an exemption in law exists. Please note that ECPI is exempt from California Public Record Act requests (Gov. Code,§ 7927.400.) However, California Government Code section 11015.5 (a)(6) prohibits all state agencies from distributing or selling any ECPI about users to any third party without the permission of the user. CARB does not sell any ECPI.  CARB may provide or distribute certain lists and statistical reports of regulatory information as provided by law, but ECPI is redacted or aggregated to remove the connection to the individual user.

Note that a "user has the option of having the user’s personal information discarded without reuse or distribution, provided that the appropriate agency official or employee is contacted after notice is given to the user." (Gov. Code, § 11015.5, subd. (a)(4).) CARB will not be responsible for information you provide us that is subsequently displayed by Google, Yahoo, or any other search engine. Please contact CARB’s privacy officer at 916.445.0628 or privacy@arb.ca.gov if you want to request that we discard your PII.

In the event of conflict between this Privacy and Conditions of Use Policy and the Public Records Act, the Information Practices Act, or other law governing the disclosure of records, the Public Records Act, the Information Practices Act, or other applicable law will control.

 

Protection of Personal Information


CARB takes reasonable precautions to protect the personal information collected or maintained by CARB against loss, unauthorized access, use, modification, or disclosure. CARB uses Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption software to protect the security of individuals’ personal information during transmission of such information through CARBIS. Personal information is stored in secure locations. Staff are trained on the management of personal information, including the limitations to the release of information. Access to personal information is limited to those staff whose work requires the information. Confidential information is destroyed according to CARB records retention schedules with periodic audits conducted to ensure proper information management policies and procedures are followed.

 

Effective: 06/25/2026

[Last Revision/Review: 06/25/2026]